


A Nurse By Night

by elirwen



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 23:04:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3746899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elirwen/pseuds/elirwen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur knows what to expect since the moment Merlin doesn’t respond to his usual lunch break text. He wraps things up faster that day and leaves the office at least an hour early. He doesn’t waste time buying groceries or picking up takeaway as he would on any other Friday night. It wouldn’t be of use anyway if he’s right about the reason of Merlin’s radio silence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Nurse By Night

Arthur knows what to expect since the moment Merlin doesn’t respond to his usual lunch break text. He wraps things up faster that day and leaves the office at least an hour early. He doesn’t waste time buying groceries or picking up takeaway as he would on any other Friday night. It wouldn’t be of use anyway if he’s right about the reason of Merlin’s radio silence.

He lets himself into Merlin’s flat, toes off his shoes and shrugs off his jacket. There are no sounds indicating activity, but he wasn’t expecting any. Still, he takes a quick look into the kitchen and living room before heading towards Merlin’s bedroom. 

He opens the door quietly, in case Merlin is sleeping, and slips inside. Curtains are drawn over the window, blocking the late afternoon light, but not enough to drown the room in complete darkness. 

Just as he expected, Merlin is curled on his bed, fully clothed and half covered by a light blanket. A stranger might think him asleep, but Arthur knows better. Even in the shadows he can see the unnatural stiffness to Merlin’s limbs, the too tight grip his hand has on the sheets. 

Arthur crosses the room, sits down on the side of the bed and pets Merlin’s hair gently. Merlin lets out a shaky breath and leans into the touch. 

“How long?” Arthur asks in a whisper. He can see two empty glasses on the bedside table, but no plates or empty packaging, which means Merlin probably hasn’t eaten since the migraine started.

“I’m not sure,” Merlin replies after a too long pause, exhaustion and pain dripping off his words.

“Do you think you’ll be able to eat something?” Arthur asks, sliding his palm over the sweat damp curls at the base of Merlin’s skull. 

“Not yet,” Merlin says, squinting up at him. 

“I’ll bring you some water and help you take a shower, okay?” 

“Okay,” Merlin says, closing his eyes once more. 

A few months ago, the same offer would be met with Merlin’s reassurance that he’s fine and doesn’t need Arthur to worry, that he can take care of himself. Fortunately, he already accepted that there’s no point in trying to send Arthur away, that Arthur’s not one to let his loved ones alone in their misery. 

~x~

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Merlin says feebly, leaning against the wall while Arthur helps him get out of his track pants.

They’re getting good at the routine, Merlin lifting his feet the moment Arthur touches his ankle, allowing him to pull the trouser leg off. 

“Do you want to sit down?” Arthur asks. It’s hard to tell in the warm orange glow of a nightlight, but Merlin seems paler than before.

Merlin nods and scrunches his eyes immediately, his migraine reminding him this type of movement is not welcome. Arthur guides him to sit down on the closed toilet lid and starts stripping too, but before he’s finished, Merlin slides down to his knees beside the toilet, wrenches the lid open, and throws up.

He has only a bit of water in his stomach and it’s purged from his body right with the first convulsion, leaving him to dry heave through another series of spasms. Arthur kneels down next to him, running his hand up and down his back waiting for the worst to pass. 

“Better?” he asks when Merlin’s breathing levels out and he slumps beside the bowl, leaning into Arthur’s side. 

“A bit.” 

After rinsing his mouth, he lets Arthur tug him towards the shower stall. Before they step under the spray, Arthur makes sure water isn’t too hot. It’d only worsen Merlin’s headache. 

Once in the shower, Arthur washes Merlin’s body, dragging the sponge over every bit of Merlin’s skin. He smiles to himself when he hears Merlin’s breathless giggle as he moves the sponge over Merlin’s inner wrist and palm, the one ticklish spot that never fails to make Merlin laugh. 

He doesn’t shampoo Merlin’s hair, just rinses them thoroughly, gently massaging his scalp. He knows Merlin hates strong smells during his migraine episodes. Merlin pulls him close when he’s done with his hair and rests his chin on Arthur’s shoulder. 

They stay under the spray for a few more minutes, unmoving, just enjoying the soothing slide of the water over their bodies. 

~x~

Snuggled in Arthur’s embrace and fluffy blanket, Merlin sips the chamomile tea Arthur prepared for him. 

“How was your day?” he asks. 

“Boring,” Arthur says because there really isn’t much to say about the monotony of paperwork he was handling all day, “but still better than yours obviously.”

“It could have been worse,” Merlin says, leaning away to deposit the now empty cup on the bedside table and then settling more comfortably into Arthur’s arms.

“How exactly could have it been worse?” Arthur asks, pulling the blanket a bit higher to cover Merlin’s bare shoulders. “You throw up only during your worst migraines.”

“You could have been tired and decided to go home instead.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever gone home on Friday night in the past few months. Even when I was dead on my feet.”

“That’s true. You fell asleep during dinner once,” Merlin says with a laugh only to hiss in pain a second later, pressing his palms to his temples. 

“Come on, let’s lie down,” Arthur whispers and manoeuvres them into a lying position. 

He intends to spoon Merlin, but Merlin has other idea. He turns around, slight grimace of pain on his face, and prods Arthur to get him to roll onto his back. He settles at his side then, his head on Arthur’s shoulder, his leg resting over Arthur’s to get even more skin on skin contact, and wraps his arm around Arthur’s torso. 

Arthur adjusts the blanket with his free hand, covering Merlin up to his chin. He links their fingers together then and brushes his thumb over Merlin’s knuckles in soothing rhythm.

“We should do this more often,” Merlin says after a few minutes of silence. “Without the migraine though. That part sucks.”

It’s true their evenings consist mostly of sex, sometimes quick and desperate, other times prolonged and mind-blowing, or of falling asleep side by side. There’s some cuddling involved after sex, but it’s different. It’s more like becoming an exhausted pile of limbs and refusing to move anymore. Their only real cuddle times are when Merlin migraine hits, which makes Arthur frown as he wonders if he’s been neglecting him.

“I know you’re overthinking something because you get so tense every single time,” Merlin says and shifts a bit to squint up at Arthur. “Stop it. I don’t like sleeping on hard surfaces.”

“You didn’t seem to have problems falling asleep in that tent last summer,” Arthur says, willing his body to relax again.

“That doesn’t count. We spent whole days hiking. And then you made me come two times each night. Four times on that one highly memorable Friday.”

“I was aiming for five, but you passed out on me.”

“As you like to remind me.”

Arthur will never forget that moment. His fucked out boyfriend sprawled over the sleeping bag, his stomach covered in cum and content expression on his sleeping face. It was a perfect combination of hot and adorable.

“How’s your head?” he changes the topic before he can pop a boner.

“Okay,” Merlin says. 

Translated from Merlin-speak, it means ‘not that great’. 

“How about I get you a painkiller?” Arthur offers, pressing a kiss to Merlin’s hair. 

“No, I think the sleeping pill is starting to kick in,” Merlin mumbles into Arthur’s shoulder.

~x~

He wakes up to Merlin’s fingers running over his torso, drawing mindless patterns on the skin. 

“No migraine today?” he asks even though he already knows the answer, his voice rough from sleep. 

“Completely headache free,” Merlin says with a smile. “Having a great nurse does wonders. I feel like I should express my gratitude in some way.”

His hand slides lower, his fingers playing with Arthur’s treasure trail. Arthur lets Merlin play for a while, enjoying the slow build of arousal, but then he rolls him onto his back without warning, straddling him and going for a kiss. 

“If I was that good in nurse role, maybe we should advance to playing doctor.”

He’ll take being pulled into another kiss as a yes.

**Author's Note:**

> it was meant to be pure fluff, damn it! Arthur and Merlin are too dirty for me to handle. :D
> 
> And I'm also [on tumblr](http://elirwen.tumblr.com).


End file.
